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Alameda County Court’s New Data System ‘Atrocious’

A new multimillion-dollar data system in Alameda County court was supposed to be a money-saver and a life-saver. Now it's being called a disaster. Jodi Hernandez reports. (Published Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016)

A new multimillion-dollar data system in Alameda County court was supposed to be a money-saver and a life-saver. Now it's being called a disaster.

The public defender says countless people are suffering as a result of the faulty system.

An Alameda County Superior Court judge dismissed the man's misdemeanor drug offense case after the man completed a drug treatment program. But that ruling didn't get recorded in the county's new data system, so police came to the man's Fremont home and arrested him.

The Fremont man is not alone, according to Public Defender Brendon Woods. He said ever since the court began using its new Odyssey data system in August, countless defendants have been paying the price.

"When you have people arrested illegally, when you have people who are being held in custody longer than they should, it is just absolutely atrocious," Woods said.